Certified CISO Delivers the Ultimate Competitive Edge that Helps you Excel as a CISO

Interviewee: Richard Foltak
Company: Dito
Job Title: Senior Vice President, CISO, and Head of Cloud

Why a Successful CISO Pursued C|CISO

The Certified Chief Information Security Officer certification played a pivotal role in his career growth, equipping him with the leadership skills and risk management expertise necessary for senior-level roles.

According to Richard, leadership certification like the Certified Chief Information Security Officer increases credibility, enables better communication with industry peers, and accelerates career advancement, which are valuable assets for aspiring and established CISOs.

I know for a fact that certifications such as the Certified CISO have helped me in my career tremendously.

Tell us about your current role and how you got there.

Today, I serve as Chief Information Security Officer, and I was recruited by Dito to lead their cloud security practice based on the professional experience and certifications that I gained during my tenure at Deloitte Consulting, where I was the Chief Architect and led the implementation of cloud management solutions across the Amazon Web Services, Google, and Azure cloud platforms.

Over time, I continued to learn and gain credible credentials to demonstrate my competence across multiple practices. This effort helped me establish proficiency and credibility within my role, both inside and outside of my company. My advice is to train for your next role – the opportunity will present itself.

You hold a CISSP certification. Why did you later pursue the Certified Chief
Information Security Officer (Certified CISO) credential?

Individuals new to certifications need to understand that each certification teaches you how to demonstrate competency in either a specific knowledge area or a specific role. The CISSP certification is a role-based certification. While it covers technology based subjects needed to perform in a specific role, it focuses more on operations, behavior, and engineering best practices.

Can you share some success stories about how you applied the Certified CISO body of knowledge in the workplace?

Certifications help you gain a competitive edge and knowledge of the industry.

Has the Certified Chief Information Security Officer (Certified CISO) program impacted you positively in your career?

My certifications helped accelerate my career and my salary growth.
I know for a fact that certifications such as the Certified CISO have helped me in my career tremendously.

This is part of the interview. You can find the details on the EC-Council website.

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References:

EC-Council. (October 31, 2025). Is CCISO worth it? Successful certified CISO competitive edge. Retrieved from https://www.eccouncil.org/success-stories/is-cciso-worth-it/successful-certified-ciso-competitive-edge/